Algic languages

The Algic (also Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan) languages are an indigenous language family of North America. They are all thought to descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto language reconstructed using Proto-Algonquian and the attested languages Wiyot and Yurok.

distribution of Algic languages (in red)

Most Algic languages are part of the Algonquian subfamily, which are spoken from the Rocky Mountains to New England. The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot languages of northwestern California.

Family division

Algic consists of 30 languages.

I. Wiyot

1. Wiyot (a.k.a. Wishosk) (†)

II. Yurok

2. Yurok (a.k.a. Weitspekan)

III. Algonquian languages (a.k.a. Algonkian)

3. Arapaho (a.k.a. Arapaho-Atsina)

4. Blackfoot (a.k.a. Blackfeet)

5. Cheyenne

6. Cree (a.k.a. Cree-Montagnais or Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi)

7. Fox (a.k.a. Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo or Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo)

8. Menominee (a.k.a. Menomimi)

9. Miami-Illinois (a.k.a. Peoria) (†)

10. Ojibwa (a.k.a. Ojibway, Ojibwe, Chippeway, Ojibwa-Potawatomi, or Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa)

11. Potawatomi (a.k.a. Ojibwa-Potawatomi)

12. Shawnee

A. Eastern Algonquian

13. Eastern Abenaki (a.k.a. Abenaki or Abenaki-Penobscot)

14. Etchemin (†)

15. "Loup A" (a.k.a. Nipmuck ?) (†)

16. "Loup B" (†)

17. Mahican (a.k.a. Mohican) (†)

18. Maliseet (a.k.a. Maliseet-Passamquoddy or Malecite-Passamquoddy)

19. Massachusett (a.k.a. Natick) (†)

20. Micmac (a.k.a. Mi’kmaq, Mi’kmag, or Mi’kmaw)

21. Mohegan-Pequot (†)

22. Munsee (a.k.a. Delaware)

23. Nanticoke (a.k.a. Nanticoke-Convoy) (†)

24. Narragansett (†)

25. Pamlico (a.k.a. Carolina Algonquian, Pamtico, or Pampticough) (†)

26. Powhatan (a.k.a. Virginia Algonquian) (†)

27. Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog (a.k.a. Connecticut-Naugatuck-Unquachog) (†)

28. Shinnecock (†)

29. Unami (a.k.a. Delaware or Lenape)(†)

30. Western Abenaki (a.k.a. Abnaki, St. Francis, Abenaki, or Abenaki-Penobscot)

Wiyot, Miami, Illinois, Etchemin, Loup A, Loup B, Mahican, Massachusett, Mohegan, Pequot, Nanticoke, Narragansett, Pamlico, Powhatan, Quiripi, Naugatuck, Unami, Unquachog, and Shinnecock are now Template:Ll. The last known Wiyot speaker died in 1962. All other languages are Template:Ll. Yurok is thought to have ten or fewer speakers.

The two Algic languages of California, Wiyot and Yurok, have sometimes been combined into a subgroup called Ritwan (leading to a two-branch genetic tree of Ritwan and Algonquian). This grouping has been disfavored by many specialists. Wiyot and Yurok do not seem to be any more similar to each other than either language is to Algonquian languages.

Within the Algonquian subfamily there is a smaller genetic grouping of the Eastern Algonquian languages. The other (non-Eastern) Algonquian languages have sometimes been categorized into two smaller subgroups: Central Algonquian and Plains Algonquian. However, these two subgroups are not based on genetic relationship but are rather areal subgroups. (See Algonquian.)

Bibilography

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996). Languages. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-1604-8774-9.
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978-present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1-3, 16, 18-20 not yet published).